Thread by @luuuunadiane

xicheng, jc-centric, fem!jc modern AU + canon fix-it, transmigration(?)

Jiang Cheng's phone buzzes, and she looks away from her book - [The History of YunMeng Jiang - Destruction and Rebirth] to check her smartphone. The time of 2245 shines back with a message notification.

It's from Lan Huan, and she smiles. [I know it's late...] She unlocks her phone to see the entire message, [but I've just finished a chapter and I just can't think anymore! Want to get supper as a break from studying?]

Studying. Yes. She's supposed to be studying. Her eyes

flick over the business administration textbooks lying on her desk that she hasn't touched since semester lectures ended for the revision breaks before their exams - said exams less than a week away.

Yet here she is, indulging himself by reading about her favourite subject

- history, after making the snap decision to go to a library. In no way was that an actual study break either, because she hadn't been studying, and just couldn't bring herself to do so.

She snorted. It was pure escapism toward an obligation she was dreading and what else better

than to escape into one of her childhood refuges - the history of the cultivation world and one of her personal historical heroes?

The determined, powerful, and enduring Sandu Shengshou, who rebuilt YunMeng Jiang after its destruction at the Sunshot Campaign,

Sect Leader Jiang Cheng, courtesy name Wanyin, whom she herself had been named after. Her accomplished mother was also a fan and hoped she'd inherit said figure's valiant qualities.

Well, Jiang Cheng snorted, she was a far cry from the formidable Sect Leader, who clawed her way

out of the ashes and rebuilt her sect despite losing all her family except for her nephew. Here Jiang Cheng was, in all the modern conveniences and advances of the current time, bogged down by an exam she was just too darn lazy to study for.

It was so much more comforting to

read about the trials and tribulations of Sect Leader Jiang, knowing that all her sweat and tears and hard work had finally paid off in the restoration of her sect, than have to face the mountain of financial and business theories she was supposed to have started revising weeks

ago, even if it only doomed in the upcoming exams that drew nearer and nearer.

She sighed, and her eyes drifted back to her phone. It was nearly 11pm, she could still turn down her childhood friend's request and actually start studying before sleeping for the day-

okay, she was kidding herself. Jiang Cheng knew she was only going to stay up until 2am procrastinating further, before giving up and going to sleep filled with guilt and shame. Might as well procrastinate by meeting Lan Huan.

She unlocked her phone to send back a quick reply

and collected her wallet as she threw on a jacket to make herself more presentable, slipping on shoes as she stepped out of the Jiang residence, only slightly bemoaning the library book left on her desk. She had only started the section of Lotus Pier's rebuilding as well...

Even though she had spent her entire life reading sources on Sect Leader Jiang, she typed the figure's name into her phone browser to see if there was anything new she could consume as she stepped out into the chilly night air, eyes glued to her screen as she walked down the road

and only the blare of a horn, headlights blinding her, alerted her to the oncoming truck which was hurtling toward her at a speed too fast to escape from.

Oh.

Before nothingness, her final thought was that she'd never gotten to confess her true feelings to her childhood friend-

(well, at least she didn't have to take exams anymore)

(didn't have to work in business, which she hated, and only studied at university at her mother's demand-)

"Sect Leader Jiang," someone said, sounding a lot like the live-action movie depiction of historical events,

"Sect Leader Jiang, please wake up."

She didn't want to wake up - she wanted to sleep - but her consciousness was pulled back into wakefulness into an unfamiliar wood ceiling. If she'd heard correctly, who on earth would be calling for Jiang Wanyin-?

"You asked for this."

The voice was soon accompanied by several rapid steps increasing in noise, before her ear was tugged painfully. "OW!" Jiang Cheng shouted, sitting up straight and meeting the dispassionate gaze of a woman with piercing eyes, dressed in purple hanfu-?

"Sect Leader Jiang, get your ass out of bed. It's nearly noon."

Jiang Cheng could only gape as the young woman turned around apathetically and swept toward another part of the room(?) she was currently in, but what caught her attention was the silver headpiece worn by

the woman at the beginning of her tight, high ponytail. A piece that looked like eight sharp arachnid legs - the identifying piece of the Spiders of MeishanYu - women assassins skilled in combat, infiltration, and poisons.

Jiang Cheng had seen surviving headpieces in museums.

Now here it was, worn by a woman in the flesh, with accompanying clothing to boot - she stared at the retreating figure of the woman and her eyes caught on the navy inner robes in her ensemble, the clan colour of MeishanYu-

Another person stepped into her room, a man in purple

robes, simple and solid, but sans any MeishanYu navy - and the Spider immediately threw a dagger toward him which the man just barely dodged. "Shameless." The woman said, sharp and cutting, "Barging into your Sect Leader's quarters before she is even dressed. Have you no shame."

The man, dressed in attendant's clothes, coloured and bowed deeply, eyes rooted to the ground. "This lowly one apologizes. Sect Leader Jiang," He said to Jiang Cheng, who was still staring uncomprehendingly from her - bed, she was on a bed, wearing thin white hanfu pyjamas

"This is your schedule for today," and immediately started rattling off meetings with dignitaries, visits to - the blacksmiths? Something about Sect Leaders -

Purple was everywhere. Purple and Lotuses, carved into pillars, embroidered on lilac tapestries, pink lotuses floating

on the lakes outside the open window, and Jiang Cheng stared at the violet brocade robe hanging on a wooden frame across her bed.

Somehow, by some unexplainable reason, she was in the body of-

She had become Sect Leader Jiang.

Swallowing, Jiang Cheng opened her mouth. "Wei Wuxian-"

The Spider's cool gaze snapped to her.

"My, uhh..." She racked her gaze for the correct term, "shixiong, Wei Wuxian, where is he?"

"In Yiling, of course." The Spider spat derisively. "He defected from YunMeng Jiang,"

"You made that clear, Sect Leader. Why do you care about him now?"

Wei Wuxian was still alive. That meant that in the current timeline, Sect Leader Jiang Wanyin still had her siblings with her.

And knowing the events that were about to happen-

She gulped.

Oh.

Oh, fuck.

Jiang Cheng very, very quietly panicked as she got dressed, running through historical events in her head. She couldn't have a breakdown now, not when she was being watched by the Spider and her attendant, silently thanking her obsession for history for enabling her to instantly

recognize YunMeng Jiang artifacts and a brand new, just reconstructed Lotus Pier, letting her slip into character as quickly as possible.

Behind a folding screen, she dressed herself quickly - there were little inner ribbons to teach her how to tie the robes shut, and she wound

her belt around her waist, quickly pulling her hair into a ponytail the way she remembered Jiang Wanyin was always depicted in her portraits - simple and utilitarian.

"Sect Leader, why are you dressed like that?" The Spider said critically upon laying eyes on her.

"Uh-" Jiang Cheng's eyes flickered downward in confusion, which only made the Spider narrow her eyes suspiciously. Shit, she was being out of character. Jiang Wanyin was a famously irate, snappish person, and Jiang Cheng quickly adopted a scowl. "What's wrong with it?"

The Spider didn't miss a beat, grabbing the end of her belt and undoing it with a swift motion that made Jiang Cheng nearly stumble at the force of it. "Are you going to be seen in public looking like a child hasn't learned to dress themselves?" She snarked, exhaling exasperated

as she brought the sash around Jiang Cheng's waist, firmly and tightly wrapping it around her, before tying a secure knot behind her and smoothing it to look much more put-together. "You sent away your handmaidens yet you can't even dress yourself. Truly a member of the gentry."

Jiang Cheng made herself frown, which seemed like an appropriate response, but the idea of handmaidens was becoming more and more appealing as the Spider adjusted her lotus crown headpiece with a click of the tongue (Jiang Cheng had spent nearly an entire minute just turning the

ornament around in her hands, fascinated at the untarnished, intricate silver piece.) "Send for some." She said in her grumpiest tone, which made the Spider glance at her oddly.

It would be even more suspicious if Sect Leader Jiang was incapable of dressing herself!

The Spider stepped away, and her eyes flickered over to the attendant, who had moved to stare at the wall, back facing her, and she bit her lip, taking a deep breath.

"Please repeat my schedule." Jiang Cheng said, glad that he voice did not waver, and the attendant bowed as he

turned around to face her, while the Spider glanced at her oddly again. Okay, so...maybe Jiang Wanyin wasn't as polite to attendants, considering the rigid social hierarchies of the past, which kinda sucked, she thought, wrinkling her nose.

Most of the parts of her schedule only

made sense to her on a surface level - yes she knew what a blacksmith was. Yes, as a Sect Leader, she had to ensure an abundant food supply to feed the residents of YunMeng, that diplomatic relations had to be maintained to the other Sects. But did she know what performing any of

these tasks entailed, outside of her personal knowledge on the history of the YunMeng Jiang Sect? Absolutely not. But she was now the Jiang Sect Leader, so she had no choice but to face her assigned tasks.

Feign confidence and people will believe it, she recited in her head,

as she strode out of her personal quarters.

Throughout the day, she continually thanked her past self for being so obsessed with obscure historical details when presented with the newest samples of practice swords for YunMeng Jiang disciples, recalling the museum exhibits she'd

visited and the signature sword of a YunMeng Jiang disciple held within a glass case. She'd taken one look and immediately recognized the blade with a lotus insignia forged at the blade just above the hilt as the right choice - experimentally picking it up and surprising herself

at the muscle memory she possessed when a swing turned into a skillful flick and spin, Jiang Wanyin's muscles allowing her to pick up swords easily. The other types - although much prettier, like the one which had the lotus carved into the metal - were ever so slightly heavier.

Jiang Cheng knew nothing about swordplay, but that made sense, didn't it? Swords had to be light enough for wielders to be faster with their assaults, and they weren't QingHe Nie, with their sword styles favouring brute strength and bulky sabers to cut through flesh and qi.

The trade deals on the provision of rice and other crops was being renegotiated, and Jiang Cheng stared at the revised trade agreement written right-to-left, up-to-down in archaic language. Thank fucking God the minor Sect representative was currently explaining each line, or she

would have no idea what was going on. "In contrast to the previous year's agreement, barley exports will be reduced due to the reassignment of arable land in Pingzhou to wheat-"

Jiang Wanyin would have understood this so much better, Jiang Cheng thought, gripping onto her robes

nervously. The diplomatic relations between the sects, geography, soil composition, politics-

In the end she really couldn't come up with much, apart from calling an attendant to bring the previous year's signed agreement to compare with the current one. The representative had

started to murmur, so Jiang Cheng pinned him with a look and he had immediately silenced, bowing his head in submission.

If only that actually worked in modern life. Aged twelve and just discovering the history of Sect Leader Jiang, Jiang Cheng had entered a phase of glaring at

people when she didn't want to deal with them, and it only landed her in more trouble with A-Die, A-Niang, and schoolmates who had tried to start fights.

Jiang Cheng compared the current agreement to the previous one, asking about the differences, and the representative had

started to sweat, stammering excuses.

Good to know that bullshit still sounded the same, centuries apart.

The Spider was smirking - Jiang Cheng really had to figure out what her name was - by the end, so it had to mean that she was doing okay, right?

As the day finally ended, Jiang Cheng walked through the hallways of Lotus Pier - remembering parts of it, which, in the modern era, had been blocked off to serve as back-end offices or closed for renovations. She remembered they had a library here - and was greeted by disciples

guarding the doors, saluting low in surprise. "Sect Leader Jiang, what may we assist you with?"

"Oh, uh-" She cleared her throat. "Nothing. I will be browsing on my own."

They bowed again, and she stepped in - eyes flying open at the rows and rows of scrolls and books.

On the one hand, the history buff in her was thrilled. On the other, this was all stuff that Jiang Wanyin was supposed to know - top female student during her year at the Cloud Recesses, skilled political strategist and administrator - but Jiang Cheng was just a business student

living in the 21st century, now thrust into the position of Sect Leader of YunMeng Jiang!

She took a deep breath and steeled herself. Nothing to do but to start reading everything she could and committing it to memory.

---

There was a woman in long, dark hair and sharp purple eyes in a plain white gown. Jiang Cheng felt claws digging into her shoulder, saw lips part and twist around words, and tried to make out what she was saying, but could only shake her head uncomprehendingly-

---

She woke up the next day with sunlight streaming in through the windows, surrounded in books and scrolls with one rolled open in her lap, and the Spider - He JingJian, Jiang Cheng had discovered upon going through the disciple registry, standing above her with an impassive

expression like nothing was out of the ordinary. And maybe nothing was, knowing Sect Leader Jiang Wanyin's dedication to her sect?

"Try waking up on time in the future, Sect Leader." He JingJian commented dryly.

A handmaiden soon arrived to dress her, and as the woman draped robes through Jiang Cheng's outstretched arms, deftly tied them together and fastened her sash and belts, combing her long hair back into artful hairstyles that her 21st century fingers could never create -

wow, Jiang Cheng thought, it was good to be on top of the social hierarchy. She gazed into a bronze mirror and saw Sect Leader Jiang staring back at her, lotus crown headpiece and elaborate ensembles of long, flowing robes that broadened her shoulders and cinched her waist.

Jiang Wanyin's waist was t i n y, and her stomach flat and toned, the fat so reduced from years of training that she could trace out the shape of abs. God damn.

Her reflection was the very picture of an imposing, competent Sect Leader - now she just had to actually BE one.

Reading through what she could of the Lotus Pier library had unearthed information that was simultaneously overwhelming and fragmented - while she understood the main gist of documents, the archaic language made it difficult to understand parts of it. She sourly regretted not

pursuing Ancient Chinese Literature save for mandatory classes in highschool where they sampled poetry from the previous dynasties.

He JingJian had eyed her oddly and asked her why she wasn't overseeing training - so Jiang Cheng quickly nodded and headed to the training grounds,

watching rows of disciples run through their sword forms - in actual YunMeng Jiang disciple uniforms! - the purple cloth swinging and billowing with their movements - who all halted and saluted her at her approach as the Head Disciple shouted out a greeting loud enough for all to

hear. She was supposed to know his name, having come across it in the disciple registry - but she would have to check it again, because it'd already slipped her mind, and the only YunMeng Jiang Head Disciple she really remembered was the currently defected Wei Wuxian.

"Resume training!" The Head Disciple shouted as she took her seat on the Lotus Throne.

Mesmerized at the sight of Jiang sword forms performed expertly for her in live action, she barely noticed time slipping by until training was over, and the Head Disciple was bowing to her.

"You were lenient on the disciples today," He JingJian offhandedly commented.

Fuck, Jiang Cheng thought.

She'd definitely messed up. What else was that supposed to insinuate? She wasn't actually the skilled warrior Jiang Wanyin, she had no idea what proper sword form was!

Was He JingJian watching training? Had she even seen her there? Could she even see her? The MeishanYu Spiders specialized in infiltration and stealth, after all-

"They were doing fine." Jiang Cheng replied, meeting He JingJian's gaze and seeing the distrust in them.

The Spider obviously didn't believe her, but what else was Jiang Cheng supposed to do???

The next training, thinking quickly, Jiang Cheng stopped her Head Disciple and beckoned him over. He ran up like a puppy and bowed his head. "Yes, Sect Leader?"

"Tell me what they're doing wrong." She said imperiously.

I'm so sorry, man. She quietly apologized to him, as he began to grow visibly nervous. She didn't want to be like her asshole university lecturer who psychologically tortured his students, but she had no choice.

There was nothing she could do but to rely on the expertise of people around her.

After a moment of thought, he brightened up - "We were too slow in performing the third form!"

(Had they??? Well, she'd take his word for it. And the eighth form wasn't in sync, either.)

"And?" She continued inscrutably.

"And..." She could see beads of sweat form on his brow. Again, she silently apologized to him as he struggled. "Fan BaoLian was remiss in her training today."

Another name she couldn't pin to a face.

"You forgot the eighth form." She said icily, and her Head Disciple immediately bowed low, thoroughly chastised. "Y-Yes, Sect Leader. This one has been negligent in his duties." He turned to the disciples, standing straight and alert in anticipation, and barked out- "Run through

third and eight forms again, thirty times each! Fan BaoLian, stay back after!" Amongst the crowd, Jiang Cheng saw a female disciple pale and hunch over as she followed her counterparts in their additional training.

"Fan BaoLian, adjust your posture!" Her Head Disciple shouted.

Jiang Cheng glanced to her right - where He JingJian was standing with a neutral, unreadable expression. "Anything else you'd like to add?"

"It is not my place to question my Sect Leader."

Not your place my ass, Jiang Cheng scoffed silently, schooling her expression to hide her

emotions, including her relief and gladness - if her Spider said that, it had to mean that everything was going fine, right?

Cool. Cool cool cool. She was getting the hang of this Sect Leader thing.

Now to change Jiang Wanyin's future.

Under the glow of candlelight, Jiang Cheng scribbled on fine parchment with a brush, staining her hands with dark ink and blots on the blank paper. She had spent hours writing letters and missives in her best calligraphy (which was shit, by the way) and cringed at the

thought that future historical documents relating to YunMeng Jiang and Sect Leader Jiang would contain her crappy handwriting - only made worse by her lack of familiarity with an ink brush. A piece of charcoal of graphite stick (did they have graphite sticks in this era?) would

have suited her much better - but surely those were the tools of commoners, and why would the Leader of a Great Sect call for them, or even find them on her own in the luxury of the Lotus Pier?

A cold drop splattered on her cheek, but she kept writing, outlining the historical

events to come.

- DO NOT TRUST LANLING JIN, JIN GUANGYAO, OR JIN GUANGSHAN, she wrote messily, circled the characters, and double-underlined them.

The answer was clear. It was something she had seen numerous debates, documentaries, and read books on. She needed to take in the

Wen remnants. Sect Leader Jiang should have taken in the remnants. To kill and dispose of them like Lanling Jin had was a war crime.

But did they even care about war crimes - did they even have the concept of it during the current era?

Sect Leader Jiang Wanyin, for all she had

been considered an important historical female figure of authority, was also constantly criticized by historians of her time to failing to extend amnesty to the Wen remnants, noncombatants and innocents who, now that the Sunshot Campaign was over, were being maligned for

the misfortune of being born into the Qishan Wen clan.

Jiang Cheng had, however, read plenty of counterarguments defending Sect Leader Jiang. Her rebuilding Sect was fragile, she was being pressured by the stronger, more influential clans, was in no political position to do so,

and by nature of being a woman, would have been dismissed and ridiculed by overwhelmingly male counterparts, a target painted on her back if she had taken them in. Jiang Wanyin couldn't accomplish it then, how could Jiang Cheng accomplish it now?

Either way, she would have to meet Wei Wuxian.

Only by virtue of muscle memory from the sports she played did Jiang Cheng not fall off her sword. Jiang Wanyin's balance was impeccable and qi surged through her, making sword flight simple - and tt was exhilarating to fly unhindered through the wind -

yet incredibly nerve-wracking, since any wobble off the narrow blade would send her plunging straight down.

The landscapes turned increasingly barren once she entered Yiling, a compass and map clutched in her hands as she navigated her way towards the Burial Mounds.

The place reeked of resentful energy, her skin itching even beneath layers of robes, and she had to resist the urge to claw it off her arms, her neck, her entire body. A horrible smell she had never encountered before assaulted her nose, and Jiang Cheng pushed her nausea down.

Nervously, she put her hand on the hilt of Sandu, a sword she didn't know how to use, as Zidian flickered in response to her unease. She'd barely even tried out the famous spiritual weapon, far too aware of eyes following her around Lotus Pier, as the Jiang Sect Leader -

but a combination of isolation and fear had her experimentally flicking her wrist out to try out the powerful whip, which flared out from its compact ring form into a long, graceful arc, as a lash of purple lightning. It struck the ground with a crack that reverberated around her

and Jiang Cheng felt a tiny ounce of relief. Okay. She didn't know how to use a sword, but a whip (despite never using one before) seemed easy enough. She tested it out a few times, gaining confidence at the range of Zidian and marveling at the electric qi it possessed.

"Sect Leader Jiang, what are you doing here?"

A lazy, baritone drawl of surprise and sarcasm met her ears, and she reacted instinctively, throwing the lash toward the source of the voice with a yelp.

The figure dodged just in time as Jiang Cheng stammered "a-apologies-"

automatically, until realizing just who was standing in front of her.

Long, loose hair tied with a red ribbon, filth-dyed grey robes with flaming red borders, a bamboo flute twirling between bony fingers. The person's silver eyes narrowed. "Since when do you apologize to me,"

"Jiang Cheng?" The Yiling Patriarch teased, lips spreading in a smirk to show teeth.

Jiang Cheng could only stare at Wei Wuxian in the flesh.

"And what are you doing all the way out here, in the middle of nowhere-" He said derisively, "whipping the air with Zidian?"

She swallowed, schooling her expression back into one of blank sternness. "That's more like it." Wei Wuxian grinned.

How would Jiang Wanyin act with Wei Wuxian, her shixiong, head disciple, and brother figure? They were said to be extremely close in their childhood, even with

suggestions by historians that the previous Sect Leader Jiang had wanted them to marry - did they have a romantic relationship? Plenty of male historians liked to believe she was in love with him- but from what Wei Wuxian said, she certainly wasn't polite to him, and it didn't

fit her abrasive, blunt personality at all.

"Shixiong," She tried, only for Wei Wuxian to shoot her an incredulous look and shit-eating grin.

"Shixiong?!! Are you sick, Jiang Cheng? What's gotten into you?!"

Fuck, that was the wrong thing to say, she fucked up. "Wei Wuxian-"

She said, squaring her shoulders back and drawing herself up to her full height, "I'm going to - uh, I mean, I plan to bring the Wen remnants back to YunMeng Jiang."

Jiang Wanyin was blunt. She could do blunt, and tried not to wince when Wei Wuxian stared at her like she'd grown

a second head.

Then he threw his head back and laughed. "Ah, Jiang Cheng, you really are sick, aren't you? Or maybe insane? Are you possessed?"

Her eyes darted about as she tried to come up with a reply. Okay, maybe blunt was not the best idea. The tension rose when she saw

the mirth on his face slowly melt away as he stared back at her, an confused and unsettled expression that soon morphed into suspicion.

"What do you mean you're taking them in? What are you trying to pull?"

Fuck, that was the wrong thing to say, wasn't it.

"You know why you can't take them in." He said grimly, the solemnity a jarring replacement of his earlier mischief. "You're the Sect Leader, Jiang Cheng, how could you say something like that? I defected from YunMeng Jiang for a reason."

"But they're just...people." She retorted, seeing a collection of small huts in the distance, remembering the artifacts collected from the Burial Mounds - primitive, hand-fashioned faring implements, a tiny set of tattered clothes fit for a child, a wooden toy. Unable to quench

her history buff's curiosity, she stalked past Wei Wuxian into the Burial Mounds and saw the Wen remnants in the flesh - shabbily constructed houses, small farming plots with withered-looking leaves, elderly people stopping their work to stare at Sect Leader Jiang's presence.

Not a soldier or able-bodied fighter in sight. "Look at them!" She gestured to Wei Wuxian, who had run after her. "How can you live like this?" He glared at her in return. "Don't you see the crops? We can grow our own food, we'll be fine. I'll keep them safe."

The miasma of demonic cultivation was thick and nearly suffocating, and it would eventually rip Wei Wuxian apart, leaving these innocents to be massacred in the Burial Mounds Siege.

"They can't keep living here," Jiang Cheng insisted, trying to channel a bit of Jiang Wanyin into

her voice. "I don't - I don't know how we'll get them back to YunMeng Jiang - but we should still try." She met Wei Wuxian's eyes in challenge, his silver eyes wide in surprise.

"...Attempt the Impossible, right?" She recited YunMeng Jiang's motto, and saw the hope in his eyes.

Okay, Jiang Cheng didn't have much of a plan. And she was extremely aware that a public announcement of YunMeng Jiang sheltering the remnants was right out.

But the previous instance when her Spider had popped up behind her soundlessly and scared her so badly she screamed,

utterly embarrassing herself in front of He JingJian, she'd gotten an idea.

Why not just sneak them all back?

YunMeng - even just Lotus Pier - was a large place, and the Jiang Sect was rebuilding. Surely they needed all the people they could get.

With a change of clothes and a change of names for the remnants, dropping the surname Wen, it couldn't be that hard to mask their original identities and simply fold them into the civilian populations of Lotus Pier.

She explained her entire plan to He JingJian and commanded

the rest of the Spiders - however many there were still left, that they could get from Meishan - to participate in this operation, and He JingJian had raised an eyebrow in response.

"This is not wise, Sect Leader. Upon discovery, this would besmirch YunMeng Jiang's reputation."

"Only upon discovery, right?" Jiang Cheng said, forgetting to inject sternness into her tentative optimism. "The Spiders are an elite force of infiltration and stealth. Are you telling me that their capabilities aren't up to the task?" She goaded.

He JingJian narrowed her eyes.

"Very well, Sect Leader." She replied.

Jiang Cheng couldn't help a cheerful smile from spreading across her face, and returned to her office to draw up a list of names to serve as a record of the Wen remnants residing in Yiling. Wei Wuxian had looked at her approvingly when

she'd proposed the idea - as volatile and shrouded in demonic energy as he was, she understood historian accounts painting him in a heroic light, he truly was charismatic and caring, relinquishing his rank and material attachments to shelter the innocent and do good.

With the list, they could make sure that the remnants were all secured in Lotus Pier, to leave no trace of the Qishan Wen Sect to arouse suspicion.

A servant arrived at her quarters with a fresh pot of tea, and she absently thanked them while uncovering its lid to drink from.

The tea was fragrant, carrying notes of sweetness, and Jiang Cheng only just realized how parched her throat had been from a whole day of flying back and forth, of standing in the thicket of resentful energy. She had no idea how the Wens could live in such close proximity.

She swallowed and returned her concentration to writing with brush in hand-

-before she froze.

She couldn't move. Every muscle in her body froze, even her eyes, which were glued to the character she had just finished writing. Wen Yuan. A little boy, the most tragic casualty of

the Burial Mounds Siege, which she had just learnt today was four, his bones never found but toys unearthed. Jiang Cheng threw her willpower into resisting her immobilization, but could do nothing, not even scream, as even her throat locked up.

After what felt like an eternity,

her limbs finally moved - outside of her own volition, as if manipulated by an invisible puppeteer. Her hand neatly set the inkbrush beside the inkwell, before picking up the incomplete list and throwing it into the lit brazier.

No! She wanted to scream. That wasn't what she

wanted to do! What sort of curse was this - was this even possible?! She had never come across anything like than while reading the history of cultivation!

Her legs remained folded at her desk as her hands reached for another piece of fresh parchment, then for her brush again.

In blunt, sharp, damning sentences, Jiang Cheng was forced to write out a letter of rejection to Wei Wuxian, rebuking him for his foolishness, his arrogance and betrayal of the YunMeng Jiang Sect, and that Sect Leader Jiang had been swayed by his demonic persuasion-

That's not true, she thought desperately, I was the one who approached him first!

YunMeng Jiang would be receding all support, since Wei Wuxian himself had defected from the Jiang Sect, and cut off all ties completely.

Jiang Cheng could only watch, a passenger in her body, as

she stamped the letter with her personal signature and sealed it, calling He JingJian to send it to the Yiling Patriarch-

And Jiang Cheng felt the qi emanating from the Spider, stared into her impassive eyes, and knew.

"Wise choice, Sect Leader." He JingJian said.

"You are indeed astute as expected. The Sect always comes first, and the reputation of YunMeng Jiang must be protected."

MeishanYu harboured secret cultivation techniques that vanished along with its eventual demise, centuries later.

(No!) Jiang Cheng shrieked silently,

(Let me out of here!)

(I'm just trying to do the right thing!)

Her jaw moved on its own as she was commanded to sit at the dining hall and eat, chewing rice and vegetables and slabs of meat that slid down her throat, and she couldn't even

choke as much as she wanted to, not even with the burn of alcohol when she swallowed it.

Was this what had happened - Was this why Sect Leader Jiang Wanyin never offered her support - had she been controlled this entire time?

(I want to get out!)

(Someone help me!)

The qi in her meridians swelled and pulsed, and Jiang Cheng clutched onto it, clumsily trying to circulate it with her beginner's knowledge of qi manipulation - throwing herself against the binds of the curse mindlessly.

She had no idea what this curse was. She had no idea how to break it. All she knew was that He JingJian had cast it, the same traitor that now stared at her with a complete lack of emotion and had the audacity to ask - "Sect Leader Jiang, are you well?"

"Yes, all is fine."

Lies, lies, lies - Spiders were meant to be unceasingly loyal to their master - the Leader of MeishanYu, and now the Sect Leader of YunMeng Jiang that they were allied to, and the true betrayer was He JingJian, not Wei Wuxian. Jiang Cheng pushed her chi as her body got up and

began to move, hoping that it would do something - anything at all - and to her immense gratification, the moment she stepped out of the dining hall, her footsteps began to sway, her path diverging. She was meant to walk in a straight line, but as the curse (the poison?) fought

to retain control over her body, her crooked step had already set her on a different path.

Injuries could jolt the body into resisting curses, her mind suddenly supplied, just in time. The walkways were devoid of railings, and Jiang Cheng struggled and fought to walk toward

the sea of pink lotuses, toward the lakewaters of Lotus Pier.

A curse could be broken by the body's desperate attempt to cling onto life, focusing all its energies into survival and banishing all evils-

There was a splash, and she was submerged. Water flooded her eyes and ears,

her heavy robes soaked through in an instant and started to drag her down, and she sank before feeling her limbs move on their own, trying to swim back up, to stop her from drowning. She resisted it as much as she could, opening her mouth to empty her breath and swallow as much

water as she could, the taste of silt and mud on her tongue as her lungs screamed for air. Jiang Wanyin was a skilled swimmer, and she could easily surface with a powerful stroke of her limbs - so Jiang Cheng did everything she could to pivot herself deeper into the water,

allowing her limbs to carry her even further below.

She couldn't move her limbs.

Was this it, then, the assassination of Sect Leader Jiang Wanyin by the Spider He JingJian?

How would this ripple through history?

She was going to die again, it occurred to her, she'd died in an accident and she was going to drown, and both times she was alive she hadn't accomplished anything she wanted to do. She failed to lead a happy life in the modern world, and she failed to help Jiang Wanyin

change the course of her fate.

(Sect Leader Jiang, I'm sorry.)

The next thing she felt was a gasp of precious air - and as her brain registered her ability to breathe again, a harsh blow to her face sent her reeling and staggering.

"WHAT IN THE FUCK WERE YOU DOING?" a feminine voice screamed, and Jiang Cheng turned to see purple eyes.

She recognized those eyes, that slender face with high cheekbones and thin nose - it was the same face she had seen in the bronze mirror, seen less accurately portrayed in surviving portraits - those features contorted into a furious scowl.

"WHO ARE YOU?"

Jiang Wanyin, birth name Jiang Cheng, Sect Leader Jiang, daughter of the Violet Spider, Sandu Shengshou -screamed, long hair loose and trailing down her plain white robes which looked very much like sleepwear-

(or the garb of the dead,)

and all Jiang Cheng could do was gape.

"I - m-my name is Jiang Cheng-"

"Like hell it is!" Jiang Wanyin sneered. "That's MY name!"

"No, it really is!" Jiang Cheng said helplessly. "I was named after you!"

That made the cultivator freeze, and she stared at her with a surly expression. "Why the hell would anyone name

their child after me? What's wrong with your parents?"

Okay, that stung a little, but this was Sect Leader Jiang all right, as abrasive and bad-tempered as a storm as written the poems written about her.

"Why wouldn't my parents name me after someone famous?" She retorted.

"Famous?" Jiang Wanyin scoffed. "I'm just another one in the endless list of Jiang Sect Leaders. And your parents-" Purple eyes raked Jiang Cheng up and down- "What sort of parents want to name their daughter after Sandu Shengshou?"

"Parents with good taste, obviously."

"You didn't answer my question." Jiang Wanyin snapped, and Jiang Cheng felt immediately compelled to answer at her imperious, authoritative tone - truly the voice of a Sect Leader, instead of whatever she had been playing at. "Who are you? Are you some sort of spirit? Why and how

did you end up possessing me, of all people?!" She started to mutter under her breath, and Jiang Cheng caught snatches of "...can't be that spirit, it's not strong enough....she can't be-"

"N-No, I'm a human." Jiang Cheng said, stepping forward to offer her wrist, noticing that

she was still in the ornate violet ensemble she had worn on the day of her drowning. Jiang Wanyin took her wrist and felt her meridians - before scowling at her again. "Fine, you're a human, but you're not a cultivator." She snapped. "No golden core. How did you take over my

body, then?"

"I have no idea." Jiang Cheng admitted, exhaling. It felt good to finally admit that to someone. "I got hit by a truck and-"

"A what?"

"A truck, it's a - nevermind. I died, okay, and I ended up centuries ago in your body!"

"What do you mean, centuries ago?!"

"You're a famous historical figure, Sandu Shengshou." Jiang Cheng said, the thought just then dawning on her that she was meeting THE Sandu Shengshou in person - if this was real, that is, and wasn't an elaborate fever dream.

"You're um, actually, one of my favourite figures in history." Jiang Cheng said, blushing. "I read about you all the time-"

Jiang Wanyin narrowed her eyes. "So you're from the future," She said bluntly, "you don't cultivate, and you - died."

Jiang Cheng nodded.

Jiang Wanyin sneered again. "Stop fucking lying. Just say you sacrificed yourself in a demonic ritual and overtook my body, you snake-"

"I didn't do any of that!" Jiang Cheng shouted in reply. "Look, I don't know how this happened, okay?! I just woke up in your body and had to

pretend to be you!"

"And you're doing an absolute dogshit job at it!" Jiang Wanyin shrieked back. "Aren't you from the future? Don't you know everything about me?! Why the fuck would you offer to shelter the Wen remnants and Wei Wuxian?!"

"Because if you don't, then you'll lose the rest of your family!"

Silence. She watches Jiang Wanyin's expression fall in brief, dawning horror, "A-Jie dies?" The cultivator whispered weakly.

"She will. Together with Wei Wuxian-"

"That man is not my family." She snarled.

"And if Wei Wuxian had anything to do with her death, then I'll rip him to pieces the moment I'm back in my body." She stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders. "Send me back. I've been here all this time, in this empty plane of nothing, having to watch you stumble around

like an idiot-"

"I don't know anything about being a Sect Leader, okay!" Jiang Cheng retorted angrily, "I'm a university business student! I'm doing my best - and you have a traitor in your ranks!"

That made Jiang Wanyin narrow her eyes and look away.

"The Spiders are completely faithful to MeishanYu's daughters - my mother, Yu Ziyuan - and by extension, me, as her heir. They would never betray me."

"Well, they did." Jiang Cheng spat. "He JingJian did - something - to control me, and caused my death!"

"That's because she realized someone else was controlling my body!" Jiang Wanyin yelled in sudden clarity. "They are loyal to ME, not you, and of course she would be sharp enough to pick up on all of your mistakes! She is a MeishanYu Spider, after all." She declared proudly.

"Whatever." Jiang Cheng tsked and shoved her away - Jiang Wanyin was kind of a bitch, huh, she already knew that - but knowing that and encountering her were two very different things - looking around the featureless white plane they were both standing on.

"What now, then?"

"I have no fucking clue." Jiang Wanyin bit out resentfully. "I've walked for days, and there's absolutely nothing in this place. I can't reach my qi. I don't have Zidian, or Sandu-" Her eyes widened, and she grabbed Jiang Cheng's hands, diving into her robes as the younger girl

protested - "Hey-!" before pushing them back in disappointment. "You don't have them either! What's the use of you?!"

"As if I know what's going on! I'd much rather go back to my original life!"

Where she had smartphones, the internet, modern conveniences and vehicles-

where she had been hit by a truck, and died-

Her stomach sank. If she was dead, then she couldn't go back anymore. If this really was the soul of Jiang Wanyin, how could two souls possess the same body?

"But I can't go back anymore."

"And you died." Jiang Wanyin snarked bitterly. "You got a chance to use my body, a second chance, and you fucked it up. Great job."

Jiang Cheng's eyes stung and she hated how tears welled up when she defensively glared at the cultivator. "S-Shut up - I was just trying to -"

"-help, to change your future!" She yelled back. "I just wanted to make sure your family was safe, to help innocent people, that you wouldn't have to suffer! Sue me for trying to be a good person, huh?! It's not like I know everything, if I'd known - if I'd known what would have

happened, then -"

Jiang Wanyin was staring at her with a mix of pity and disdain as Jiang Cheng wiped her eyes with the long sleeves of her robes, sniffling, "-then I obviously never would have done that!"

"It's not fair!" She yelled at the cultivator, "I didn't ask to get hit by a truck, I didn't ask to get stuck in your body, and of course I know nothing about leading a Sect! You're Sandu Shengshou, the one who rebuilt Lotus Pier, how can I even comp a r e - "

Jiang Wanyin's face seemed to fade, as Jiang Cheng's own words stretched, as if dragged by the wind, and she caught the last stunned expression of the cultivator as reality itself seemed to shift and melt into blank oblivion.

"Sect Leader Jiang."

Jiang Cheng snapped her eyes open to see the ceiling of Lotus Pier, and hear the voice of He JingJian.

"Sect Leader Jiang-"

She shot up straight in Jiang Wanyin's bed.

"-please wake up."

[END OF PART 1]

[TO BE CONTINUED]

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